Papers by IFPRI Knowledge Management
Conventional conceptions of property rights focus on static definitions of property rights, usual... more Conventional conceptions of property rights focus on static definitions of property rights, usually as defined in statutory law. However, in practice there is co-existence and interaction between multiple legal orders such as state, customary, religious, project and local laws, all of which provide bases for claiming property rights. Legal anthropological approaches that recognize this legal pluralism are helpful in understanding this complexity. Individuals may choose one or another of these legal frameworks as the basis for their claims on a resource, in a process referred to as "forum shopping." Legal pluralism can create uncertainty especially in times of conflict because any individual is unlikely to have knowledge of all types of law that might be relevant, and because rival claimants can use a large repertoire to lay claim to a resource. However, at the same time the multiple legal frameworks facilitate considerable flexibility for people to maneuver in their use of natural resources. Legal pluralism also introduces a sense of dynamism in property rights, as the different legal frameworks do not exist in isolation, but influence each other, and can change over time. Unless these aspects of property rights are recognized, changes in statutory law intended to increase tenure security may instead increase uncertainty, especially for groups with less education and contacts. This paper illustrates the implications of legal pluralism for our understanding of natural resource management and policies toward resource tenure, using the example of water rights.
Health Research Policy and Systems, 2011
Background This paper discusses the practices of organisations that cross the boundary between re... more Background This paper discusses the practices of organisations that cross the boundary between research and politics, to promote evidence-based policies and programmes. Methods It uses the experience of a network of organisations in Africa to describe the methodology, challenges and successes of efforts to promote utilisation of research on the inter-connections between HIV/AIDS, food security and nutrition in South Africa. It emphasises that crossing the boundary between science and politics can be done systematically and is inevitable for any attempt that seeks influence policy making. Results The paper reveals the complexity of the research-policy making interface and identifies key lessons for the practice of networking and engaging policy and decision-makers. Conclusion The concept of boundary organisation is a helpful means to understand the methodological underpinnings of efforts to get research into policy and practice and to understand the ‘messy’ process of doing so.
The key question addressed is: Do partnerships between agencies and rural groups enable the group... more The key question addressed is: Do partnerships between agencies and rural groups enable the groups to generate beneficial outcomes for rural households? This is important in understanding the viability of rural organizations in a context marked by government and market failures. Data were collected through a household survey and focus group discussions. The findings indicate that partnerships matter to performance of groups in offering goods and services. However, not all group types are equally likely to spawn partnerships. Partnership building is more likely in supra groups making them realize more value out of collaborations, but there remains untapped potential in these groups that could be realized through targeted partnerships and those gaps are likewise greatest with supra groups. This is revealed by an increase in the variance of local groups' performance by 2.5% and in supra groups by 10.2% when respondent preferred partnerships are analyzed. Finally, the main gap comes from the need to improve access to finance necessary to invest and expand productive assets. The gap also comes from absence of a coordinating mechanism that identifies potential partners and facilitates allocation of responsibilities and resources to groups. The study demonstrates the critical import of groups as sustainable vehicles for agricultural, natural resources and rural livelihood extension. Future partnerships to enhance rural groups' capacities must be different from present practice, both in nature of partnerships and in the types of activities promoted.
Philosophical Transactions of The Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 2008
As a result of agricultural intensification, more food is produced today than needed to feed the ... more As a result of agricultural intensification, more food is produced today than needed to feed the entire world population and at prices that have never been so low. Yet despite this success and the impact of globalization and increasing world trade in agriculture, there remain large, persistent and, in some cases, worsening spatial differences in the ability of societies to both feed themselves and protect the long-term productive capacity of their natural resources. This paper explores these differences and develops a country!farming systems typology for exploring the linkages between human needs, agriculture and the environment, and for assessing options for addressing future food security, land use and ecosystem service challenges facing different societies around the world.
ECONOMIC IMPACTS OF INTERNATIONAL AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH: CASE OF US-EGYPT-IRRI COLLABORATIVE PROJECT ON THE GENERATION OF NEW RICE TECHNOLOGIES
Agricultural research managers and scientists are under increasing pressure to demonstrate the ef... more Agricultural research managers and scientists are under increasing pressure to demonstrate the efficient and socially-effective use of funds spent on agricultural R&D. These pressures stem from heightened expectations of transparency and accountability in the use of public funds, as well as from the growing demand for evidence of impact on target social groups and environmental services. Finally, advances in agricultural biotechnology research and the ensuing dialogue about the desirability of using biotechnology tools for increasing food production in developing countries have highlighted the need to assess the impacts of international agricultural research in the US, the developing countries, and the international agricultural research centers (IARCs). The US-Egypt ATUT project, funding involves collaborative research among plant breeders, molecular geneticists, and other agricultural scientists in the US, Egypt and IRRI. ATUT rice research accelerated the utilization of three methods for improving the speed and reliability of the screening and evaluation process for identifying salt resistant varieties: shuttle breeding, anther culture and marker-assisted selection. ATUT initiated the application of Marker Assisted Selection (MAS) technology for screening Egyptian rice germplasm. Other ATUT rice technologies in the pipeline have various levels of AATUTness in their research and development. Some of the varieties to be released starting 2003 such as short duration HYVs, will have benefitted less directly from ATUT funding and scientific collaboration. Others- such as hybrid rice varieties will have been very significantly shaped by ATUT. The DREAM model under IFPRI's Global and Regional Program on Agricultural Science and Technology Policy, is used to assess the potential economic benefit of technology outputs for rice, under a range of likely adoption, market and trade scenarios. The simulation model, based on economic surplus theory, uses data and parameters from interviews with scientists, policy makers on the impact and adoption of technology. For this study, ex-ante simulations of the most likely range of outcomes with and without the innovations from ATUT investments. Analyzing the impact of technical change (a simulation over a specified number of years) has provided year-by year estimates of changes in: prices, quantities produced, consumed and traded, levels of adoption, economic benefits to consumers, economic benefits to adopters or losses (non-adopters) to producers. For US and IRRI benefits: Enhanced germplasm pool, stock of knowledge and facilities, and better informed scientists. US scientists in California and Arkansas benefit More integrated into the international rice research community. Gross benefits are estimated for governorates, by producers and consumers, by saline and normal soils, for 1997 to 2017 (end of GoE's current strategic horizon) discounted to 1997 US$. Producers in normal soils derive higher benefits than those in saline soils, some governorates reap more of the producer benefits than others; rural consumers benefit more than urban consumers. Consumer benefits are also estimated for importers of Egyptian rice such as Turkey, Sudan and aggregated Arabian countries. Cost of rice R&D and technology transfer will be measured to derive the IRR and B/C ratios.
Conventional conceptions of property rights focus on static definitions of property rights, usual... more Conventional conceptions of property rights focus on static definitions of property rights, usually as defined in statutory law. However, in practice there is co-existence and interaction between multiple legal orders such as state, customary, religious, project and local laws, all of which provide bases for claiming property rights. Legal anthropological approaches that recognize this legal pluralism are helpful in understanding this complexity. Individuals may choose one or another of these legal frameworks as the basis for their claims on a resource, in a process referred to as "forum shopping." Legal pluralism can create uncertainty especially in times of conflict because any individual is unlikely to have knowledge of all types of law that might be relevant, and because rival claimants can use a large repertoire to lay claim to a resource. However, at the same time the multiple legal frameworks facilitate considerable flexibility for people to maneuver in their use of natural resources. Legal pluralism also introduces a sense of dynamism in property rights, as the different legal frameworks do not exist in isolation, but influence each other, and can change over time. Unless these aspects of property rights are recognized, changes in statutory law intended to increase tenure security may instead increase uncertainty, especially for groups with less education and contacts. This paper illustrates the implications of legal pluralism for our understanding of natural resource management and policies toward resource tenure, using the example of water rights.
Global Change: Options for Reform
This chapter summarizes the main messages discussed in this volume on global changes affecting wa... more This chapter summarizes the main messages discussed in this volume on global changes affecting water and food security, draws conclusions, and identifies areas for future research and policy reform to help ensure water and food security now and in the future. The chapter attempts to provide partial answers to the key questions posed at the beginning of the volume. It examines, on the one hand, the impacts of key factors driving water and food security and the livelihoods of the poor and, on the other hand, how these processes of change can be used so as to improve water and food security for the poor. Key factors include population and economic growth, market integration, technological change, climate change and energy policy. Important processes to redress rising inequalities under global change include investments in pro-poor agricultural research, support of increased trade liberalization, while reducing non-tariff barriers for smallholder farmers and fishermen and women; payment for environmental services to help farmers internalize environmental externalities such as carbon or water pollution; and mechanisms to enhance knowledge transfers across borders, including enhanced South-to-South transfer. Moreover, support to local capital markets to support local financing of key water-for-food investments and multilateral investments in storage and water control facilities will also be important. Virtual water trade, while not a panacea to resolve the water crisis does move the cost of financing water to the exporter - generally developed countries - that are better placed to bear these costs. Finally, securing water access requires analysis and management of water resources taking into account policies within and outside of the water sector.
Agronomy for Sustainable Development, 2011
Low crop productivity is a general problem facing most farming systems in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA... more Low crop productivity is a general problem facing most farming systems in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). These low yields are pronounced in grain legumes and are often associated with declining soil fertility and reduced N2-fixation due to biological and environmental factors. Unfortunately, the majority of African small farmers are now unable to afford the high mineral fertilizer prices. More than 75% of the fertilizers used in Africa are imported, putting pressure on foreign exchange. Low cost and sustainable technical solutions compatible with the socioeconomic conditions of small farmers are needed to solve soil fertility problems. Biological nitrogen fixation (BNF), a key source of N for farmers using little or no fertilizer, constitutes one of the potential solutions and plays a key role in sustainable grain legumes (e.g., soybean) production. Given the high cost of fertilizer in Africa and the limited market infrastructure for farm inputs, current research and extension efforts have been directed to integrated nutrient management, in which legumes play a crucial role. Inoculation with compatible and appropriate rhizobia may be necessary where a low population of native rhizobial strains predominates and is one of the solutions which grain legume farmers can use to optimize yields. It is critical for sustained yield in farmlands deficient in native rhizobia and where N supply limits production. Research on use of Rhizobium inoculants for production of grain legumes showed it is a cheaper and usually more effective agronomic practice for ensuring adequate N nutrition of legumes, compared with the application of N fertilizer. Here, we review past and ongoing interventions in Rhizobium inoculation (with special reference to soybean) in the farming systems of SSA with a view to understanding the best way to effectively advise on future investments to enhance production and adoption of BNF and inoculant technologies in SSA. The major findings are: (1) complete absence of or very weak institutions, policy and budgetary support for biotechnology research and lack of its integration into wider agricultural and overall development objectives in SSA, (2) limited knowledge of inoculation responses of both promiscuous and specifically nodulating soybean varieties as well as the other factors that inhibit BNF, hence a weak basis for decision-making on biotechnology issues in SSA, (3) limited capacity and lack of sustainable investment, (4) poorly developed marketing channels and infrastructure, and limited involvement of the private sector in the distribution of inoculants, and (5) limited farmer awareness about and access to (much more than price) inoculants. The lessons learned include the need: (1) to increase investment in Rhizobium inoculation technology development, and strengthen policy and institutional support, (2) for public private partnership in the development, deployment and dissemination of BNF technologies, (3) to develop effective BNF dissemination strategies (including participatory approach) to reach farmers, (4) for greater emphasis on capacity building along the BNF value chain, and (5) for partnership between universities in SSA and those in the North on BNF research.
1 Effective January 2007, the Discussion Paper series within each division and the Director Gener... more 1 Effective January 2007, the Discussion Paper series within each division and the Director General's Office of IFPRI were merged into one IFPRI-wide Discussion Paper series. The new series begins with number 00689, reflecting the prior publication of 688 discussion papers within the dispersed series. The earlier series are available on IFPRI's website at www.ifpri.org/pubs/otherpubs.htm#dp.
We wish to thank Devesh Roy, Svetlana Edmeades and Irmgard Hoeschle-Zeledon for reviewing the pap... more We wish to thank Devesh Roy, Svetlana Edmeades and Irmgard Hoeschle-Zeledon for reviewing the paper and providing insightful comments. We also want to thank the participants to the brownbag seminar at IFPRI in February 2006 and to those who attended the meeting on underutilized plant species at IPGRI in November 2005 for their comments.
Many developing countries are currently in the process of designing regulatory systems that shoul... more Many developing countries are currently in the process of designing regulatory systems that should make it possible to use the potential of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) for agricultural development, while at the same time managing the risks for food safety and the environment that are potentially associated with these technologies. In view of the considerable costs associated with biotechnology regulation and the scarcity of biosafety specialists, there are processes in various regions of the developing world to establish regional systems of biotechnology regulation. So far, there are major knowledge gaps as to how regional systems of biotechnology regulation can be designed to be effective and efficient and to fulfill principles of good governance, such as transparency, voice and accountability, control of corruption, and avoidance of special interest capture. There is a wide variety of possible regional approaches, which differ with regard to the level of centralization, the scope of a regional system, the types of regional institutions and processes, and the types of financing mechanisms. Based on the literature on environmental and fiscal federalism and transaction costs economics, the paper develops a conceptual framework for the assessment of regional systems of biotechnology regulation. The framework specifies design options and assessment criteria, and identifies major trade-offs as well as the factors affecting these trade-offs. The paper takes West Africa as an example to illustrate this framework and refers to the European Union for comparison. The paper concludes that involving regional experts, stakeholders and policymakers into debates on the design of a regional regulatory system is an important strategy to fill knowledge gaps and arrive at conclusions regarding the trade-offs involved in regional biotechnology regulation.
Smallholder Innovation in Ethiopia: Concepts, Tools, and Empirical Findings
Page 1. Smallholder Innovation in Ethiopia: Concepts, Tools, and Empirical Findings by Kristin E.... more Page 1. Smallholder Innovation in Ethiopia: Concepts, Tools, and Empirical Findings by Kristin E. Davis § International Food Policy Research Institute PO Box 5689, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; [email protected] David J. Spielman ...
Rural innovation systems and networks: findings from a study of Ethiopian smallholders
Agriculture and Human Values, 2011
Ethiopian agriculture is changing as new actors, relationships, and policies influence the ways i... more Ethiopian agriculture is changing as new actors, relationships, and policies influence the ways in which small-scale, resource-poor farmers access and use information and knowledge in their agricultural production decisions. Although these changes suggest new opportunities for smallholders, too little is known about how changes will ultimately improve the wellbeing of smallholders in Ethiopia. Thus, we examine whether these changes are improving the ability of smallholders to innovate and thus improve their own welfare. In doing so, we analyze interactions between smallholders and other actors to provide new perspectives on the role played by smallholder innovation networks in the agricultural sector by drawing on data from community case studies conducted in 10 localities. Findings suggest that public extension and administration exert a strong influence over smallholder networks, potentially crowding out market-based and civil society actors, and thus limiting beneficial innovation processes. From a policy perspective, the findings suggest the need to further explore policies and programs that create more space for market and civil society to participate in smallholder innovation networks and improve welfare. From a conceptual and methodological perspective, our findings suggest the need to incorporate rigorous applications of social network analysis into the application of innovation systems theory.
Research and implementation often exist in separate worlds. To improve results for nutrition, the... more Research and implementation often exist in separate worlds. To improve results for nutrition, the nutrition research community needs to go beyond ''what'' works to understand ''how'' it works. If they do not, nutrition research risks becoming irrelevant to the needs of those who actually make policies and implement programs. Researchers must prioritize research on effectiveness of policies and programs. They should incorporate knowledge and tools of social sciences, including economics, sociology, political science, and management into their work. They should pay greater attention to environmental and institutional variables and understand change strategies, knowledge utilization, and policy processes. Fundamentally, research on implementation should use a systematic approach to produce generalizable evidence and conceptual models, tools, and methods that are communicated effectively to policymakers and programmers. Nutrition researchers need not expand far beyond their disciplinary comfort zone to do this, but they do need to build bridges with other fields to have greater success in addressing nutritional challenges. J. Nutr. 138: 646-650, 2008.
Current trends in demography, agricultural production and rural environment in the developing cou... more Current trends in demography, agricultural production and rural environment in the developing countries suggest that so-called "marginal lands" must play a larger and probably growing role in food supply and economic development for the foreseeable future. To fulfill this critical role, public policy towards these lands needs to be revised.
Advancing agriculture in developing countries through knowledge and innovation: Synopsis of an international conference
About 75 percent of the world's poor people live in rural areas, and most of them are involv... more About 75 percent of the world's poor people live in rural areas, and most of them are involved in farming. Agricultural development in these areas is often constrained by issues of access to appropriate technologies; immense institutional weaknesses1; and deep problems with ...
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Papers by IFPRI Knowledge Management